The missed opportunity for that Underwater Museum of Art … and The Magpie’s flabber is well and truly gasted by some of the claims being made for it …

The ‘Pie suggests a cunning plan to ensure the TCC fixes potholes in a timely manner.

And looking overseas, our regular visit Trumpsylvania, and not surprisingly, it is dominated by the racist rant that has stirred up the world.

But first …

Drones Approve Drones

The news that the go Queensland cabinet has approved a plan to use drones to police coastal fisheries and detect illegal fishing has been met with some mutterings among the local fishos. Ten drones will be deployed along the coast, including one in based in Townsville, to raise revenue from any naughtiness afloat. But Bentley, a man of the water himself, reckons the inventiveness of local line danglers will come into play … with those rod holders modified for a different role.

Just An idle Thought

In the spirit of what politicians DON’T say is often as important as what they DO say. This came mind with the news during the week of the admirable personal, and disappointing public, decision by Casie Scott to not run against Scott Stewart in next year’s state election.

Casie Scott

A narrow loser last time by a handful of disputed votes, the popular and capable Ms Scott was seen as a shoo-in next year, but announced she is a non-starter and was putting her family first at this stage. Understandably, she didn’t want to be spending the majority of her time away in Brisbane, especially as she would quickly become ministerial material in any LNP team on either side of the house. A selfless decision.

Hmmmm …. You’ll remember reported here that Casie’s partner Michael Brennan has given the same valid reason for scotching a contemplated bid for the mayoralty. Some months ago, he pointed out that there couldn’t be two politicians in the family, because the kids in the blended family needed at least one of them always around over the next few years. That was said when Casie was still eyeing the seat of Townsville again.

Now, The ‘Pie knows better than to ask those of a political stripe what their intentions are, because the old saying is that they can’t lie about the intentions, because at the time of any given statement, they are telling the truth. Leaving it open for intentions to change. So The ‘Pie hasn’t bothered to ask Ms Scott an obvious question – with Michael out of the race for sure, and the mayoral job keeping one in town (outside the occasional jolly to India or the States) is Casie Scott going to run for mayor?

The ‘Pie isn’t the only person to think she would romp in if she is. The old bird now awaits the fevered email denials, oh, goodness, dearie me, heavens to Bestsy, NO, NO, NO, well, that’s not my intention etc.

But then again, maybe … just maybe …

There’s A Hole In This Water Bucket

The long awaited report into the operation of the Ross Dam gates during January’s monsoon was released during the week, with St Jenny restored to her pedestal as the admirable Battler’ Boadicea … she did nothing untoward, and according to the government commissioned report, compiled by government officials, made the best of a bad lot. But the ‘experts’ did find who was really at fault … it was US, as The Magpie reported in this comment last Tuesday.

So now we know … IT WAS ALL OUR FAULT FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING THE BRILLIANCE OF TCC FLOOD MANAGEMENT.Or so it seems from the Bulletin’s summary of the whitewash report.
QUOTE: ‘It was found however that Townsville residents had low levels of understanding of terms used to describe flood risk, although nearly all ranked their understanding of flood risk as “very high”. Townsville residents, the report found, did not heed flood warnings and evacuation messaging as strongly as cyclone messaging and more education was needed.’UNQUOTE
The inescapable conclusion is that it OUR fault for being dumb hillbillies not understanding flood warnings, AND NOT THE FAULT of the evidently poor communication skills of the TCC Disaster Management geniuses.

But The ‘Pie wasn’t the only one raising an eyebrow with the report, a regular reader was more than a little miffed with it all.The (Mostly) Civil Engineer

The devil in this detailed report is in the original scope as developed by QG. It solely looks at the operation of the dam and specifically excludes all the questions people (such as above) legitimately want answered:
– what happened to the promised flood maps which were released late and in an unreadable format
– why did the much touted “point of truth” dashboard fail at about midday on Sunday and not provide any up to date information to residents
– why were a string of confusing, contradictory and simply wrong texts and voicemails sent out, by whom and why – – “evacuate the Ross River area” was meaningless, produced panic and was just dumb (did it mean get away from the riverbank or evacuate nearby suburbs?)
– where were the flood evacuation processes and mapping (beyond the broad “run for the hills” sketch)
– why was the disaster management committee caught flat-footed when BOM and poor blind Freddy could this days ahead this was getting ugly and rapidly worse
– what happened to disaster coordination during and after the event when most impact seems to have been made by individual heroic efforts rather than any planning on behalf of LDMC or TCC

I could go on, but you get the idea. The report is the worst kind of smokescreen – it picks one area which did not fail and ignores the rest. Kind of like saying it is great that the new toilet water on Boeing 737Max planes does not contaminate the environment when the planes unexpected fall out of the sky and kill people.

And here’;s another interesting but unverified comment which has just landed (Sat night)

Cappuccino in hand
12 approvedemail hidden; JavaScript is required

Submitted on 2019/07/20 at 10:42 pmFlood report scenario 4 missed one small snippet of info … control of the dam was handed back from SunWater to council 48 hours before the full release because the engineers couldn’t agree on when things should happen. The council has no expertise in dam management. SunWater recommended opening the flood gates 2 hours after the actual time to work with the tide on the night. This would have resulted in a 200ml lowering of the flood level. It would have saved $millions. Of course, people in the know were not consulted for the report. It’s a serious whitewash of events. Council still has no expertise in dam management. Let’s hope for a dry 2019-20.

We can all now reasonably expect that the Astonisher will be asking those questions we want answered, because iditor Jenna Cairney has so publicly promised to do.

Putting Things Underwater Seems To Be A Theme Of This Council

Glenys Schuntner

Once upon a time (March 2008), in a newspaper far far away (from what we’ve got now) The Magpie wrote a light-hearted piece about the then TEL CEO Glenys Schuntner. As is the wont all TEL bosses, the amiable Ms Schuntner had been making comment on all manner of things, many of which were hardly the concern of TEL.

So The Magpie asked ‘Can we be far away from Glenyns Schuntner The Cookbook? ‘so generous she was with her opinions. The ‘Pie then suggested that a statute of Ms Schuntner , built in the heroic style favored in the communist Soviet Union be erected over the Bruce Highway at the southern entrance to the city. The statue would have Ms Schuntner’s arms open in welcome, standing astride the highway so motorists would have to drive through her legs to get to town. An unforgettable entrance! At the time, there were stern words to the editor at the time (Mick Carroll) from the Prissy Brigade, because it seemed the only person to enjoy the joke was the likeable Ms Schuntner herself. (The ‘Pie told one irate female caller not to worry, Ms Schunter’s dress would have a modesty panel so that there couldn’t be any up-skirting, to which she replied ‘There’d better not be!.’ The ‘Pie often wonders about his readers.)

The ‘Pie recalls all this because it started him thinking about a 2019 opportunity which seems to have been sadly missed concerning the underwater sculpture park proposed for waters presumably off-shore from the Strand, or Magnetic Island.

We read today that the first of pommy sculptor Jason deClair-Taylor’s works will in fact be a single work of a young indigenous girl dipping her toe in the waters off the pier on the Strand, , and will only be submerged at high tide. The full sunken assembly off the Strand and at John Brewer Reef, or wherever it ends up, will, like the proposed entertainment/convention Centre , come at ‘a later stage’. Whenever that is, the art pieces will encourage the growth of coral, which one hopes will be as spectacular as the colourful claims from local luminaries trying to raise a couple of mill for the venture.

Particularly in the past from Sealink’s Paul Victory, who has claimed variously that: “Jason’s work attracts many, many thousands of visitors. We are talking about tens of thousands of visitors to the region to see the scale of this sort of work.”

One might be led into the error of thinking that the permanently rosy-cheeked Mr Victory was so pleased with this delusional codswallop that he had hit the celebratory turps before a subsequent interview for Ocean Magazine. Because there, he upped the ante spectacularly when he gurgled:“It will bring hundreds of thousands of divers to the region every year based on the popularity of the artist’s existing sites.”

Hundreds of thousands, Mr Victory? Strewth, really.

Well, no, not really, according to Townsville Enterprise CEO Patricia ‘Hot Lips’ O’Callaghan, who was somewhat more modest in her claims. Well, a bit, anyway.

“As a Southern Hemisphere first, the Museum of Underwater Art will also provide a significant economic boost to our region, anticipated to attract an additional 50,000 visitors annually upon completion, with an estimated economic impact of $42M each year.

All this was simply the usual Twaddle of the Day to support an idea that will be a solid but modest addition to our limping, leaderless tourism sector.

Since the idea came up, the basic concept of underwater art has seen the Whitsundays steal a march on Townsville, with an underwater sculpture park by a local artist and featuring oversize sea creatures already dunked and ready for viewing. One is also on the cards for Cairns.

But what a missed opportunity for us!! With a bit of vision, those behind this worthy project should have considered what marketing smarties call ‘POD’ … Point of Difference.

Which Magpie Productions Now Proudly Unveils.

The idea is simply this: instead of paying some over priced pommy poseur an undeserved poultice to sink a few third rate sculptures of anonymous figures into an underwater gallery offshore from the Strand, why not shrug off our famous cultural cringe and get local artisans to create a Townsville-themed underwater gallery exclusively of our own notables. Most of them believe they deserve to immortalised, so why not get a local artisan to knock up a few life size images reflecting our history. The project could feature:

Mayor Mullet in powder blue spangled leotards, surrounded by a semi-circle of her ten similarly clad councillors, their right arms lifted high in imitation of the mayor’s, as she conducts one of her regular council voting aerobics classes …

Nearby would be a life size Jamie Durie fashioned in solid gold …

Mike Capt Snooze Reynolds in his Laz-e-boy recliner, having a nap, as an historical reminder of his contribution to the community … he could be flanked in similar postures of repose by the three current local state Labor local members …

TEL’s Patricia ‘Hot Lips’ O’Callaghan’s image will feature waterproof lipstick, which changes colour according to the water temperature, (a diver will be employed to change her haute couture frocks three times a day) …

Airport boss Kevin ‘Rhymes With’ Gill will be seen trying to pick the pocket of a ordinary member of the flying public …

… and Les Messagebank Walker would be there simply because he is always out of his depth.

Speaking of Messagebank ….

A couple of readers reported almost doing themselves a vehicular mischief when they were suddenly confronted with this during the week …

Both thought it a bit of a tell tale that Messagebank must be feeling a tad insecure to start campaigning more than 250 days out from when he is likely to get his comeuppance. Les Walker has been notorious for years of avoiding as much as possible any interaction with constituents who may ask him to confront some problem.

But he’s taken a leaf out of the mayor’s book, and is using council money to fund his campaign. You’ll note that the sign has a sort of blackboard area that can be altered, giving the time and place where you may be graced with the presence of the deputy mayor, should you hope to consult with him. This makes the use of TCC money perfectly legitimate in the guise of informing the public where they can go to meet their councillor.

When The ‘Pie checked out the sign, he was amused to see just down the road, another sign which suggested where Walker’s roadside bombast should end up.

A Question

As so often mentioned here, it is nigh on impossible to work out how Jenna Cairney’s journalistic mind works. Saturday’s paper again poses the question.

A likeable, tough Cowboys player announces he is going to retire at the end of the season, and the paper’s hagiography instantly reaches fever pitch, despite it being six weeks before Matt Scott unlaces his boots for good. So important is this imminent departure, the glowing praise covers not only the front page, but page 2, which usually reserved for a $5000 full page advertisement, and continues to take up all of page 3. Definite overkill, but OK, fair enough.

Or is it?

Consider this: the Townsville Bulletin has been very vocal about the possibility that a second Burdekin pipeline MUST BE built in conjunction and simultaneously with the Stage 1 already under construction. The paper’s indignation has been tediously relentless, with careful one-sided reporting of the issue, with all levels of self-interested politicians damning the Federal Government’s expert report which found there is no real economic or financial excuse for the second pipeline right now. Hundreds of column inches and website pages have been devoted to championing this project, which will create 691 construction and 30 permanent vitally needed jobs – incidentally, about the same number that Mayor Jenny Hill had sacked from the council.

So when the victory is won, the Feds agree to a simultaneous build, where is this momentous development, this stellar win for a hurting community, reported?

Bloody page 7. Really, Jenna?

Like The Magpie said, it’s a matter of priorities. Perhaps Jenna Cairney knows her readers better than one likes to think.

Ashton Incensed

Linda Ashton, she of the Water For Townsville mob, is justifiably cock-a-hoop with the decision that the second pipeline is to be built in conjunction with the one currently under construction. On this vital issue, she was second only to Jayne Arlett in being first in making Townsville aware of our dire situation.

But she was feeling somewhat unappreciated, not for herself but also for her impressive team of experts who have spent more than three years building a case and lobbying for this outcome. She is particularly – and again justifiably – pissed off with the treatment she has received from blow-in Bulletin iditor Jenna Cairney, to whom Ashton made clear in a letter how she felt. Here’s the whole salvo.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR TSV BULLETIN

Thank you Jenna Cairney for consistent exclusion of WFTAG’s contributions to this vital issue of water infrastructure – virtually since the day of your arrival. Our voice has been MIA in numerous Bulletin articles now. We WERE at the emergency meeting with the JACOBS team. We’ve posted numerous articles on our site (which you monitor). Our invitation was in the press release by George Christensen. We were the only reps to submit a written response to the Business Case (35 pages) at the Roundtable called by Phillip Thompson
He will present this in person to the Deputy Prime Minister.

We were the only reps to raise the issue of Burdekin cane grower groups not having been consulted for the business case. This omission could, with other feedback, cast enough doubt on the rigour of the JACOBS study. If so the government may, despite the business case assumptions, approve the pledged funding for the second pipeline.

We’ve done two and a half years of tireless volunteer technical research and community education, which you dismissed, in writing, as rumour mongering. We’ve submitted numerous factual articles for publication since you first spat the dummy. Not one has been accepted. I’ve emailed you with information to use in articles about yourself (our active journalism). Editorials on water security dried up when you thought the goal had been achieved. Seems (reporter) Madura (McCormack has been given the editorial nod to exclude WFTAG. Is this not blatant censorship?

Thanks however to Tony Raggatt who has faithfully continued communication with our group through the three editorships since our formation. Oh for the days of Damien Tomlinson who met with us and valued our group’s diverse expertise, printing 38 weekly half page articles gratis, to inform a broader audience than our 14,000 on fb.

We knew 8 months ago what was happening politically at all levels of government and freely offered our information when you assumed the $200 million was “home and hosed”. You can lead a horse to water, as another appropriate saying goes ….
Very discourteous. Very unprofessional.

Linda Ashton

Speaking Of Fairness

The ‘Pie doesn’t want to start some dreary precedent of sports rants on this site, but he does have a simple question about the World Cup Cricket final last Sunday … if the victory comes down to any sort of count back … in this case fours and sixes … why not the simplest count-back of who still had the most wickets standing at the end of 50 overs.? The Kiwis would’ve won by being eight down, the Poms all out, both after 50 overs. And common sense would dictate that under this fair system, as the match progressed into the final overs, both sides … and the crowd … would know the equation and make matters far more exciting. And less farcical.

Going Potty About Potholes

Townsville’s always had a running battle with pot holes it seems.

Back in 1983, a Townsville woman became a worldwide media star long before the internet, when she imaginatively took the council to task over neglected potholes (Mike Reynolds was the negligent mayor at the time. Now that’s a surprise.)

And it’s been an issue ever since. So maybe The ‘Pie can has an idea to put a bit of zip in to getting our roads into acceptable shape more quickly after rains. The idea is not so much lateral thinking as horizontal thinking … simply use the potholes as part of a graffiti campaign.

Yup, draw penis around the pot holes. If this example was widely adopted, Jenny’s blue rinse supporters would be so outraged, they’d put the heat on her to speed things up. And The ‘Pie suggests if that doesn’t work, he knows what will … if some budding artist finds potholes suitable to illustrate the female pudenda, you can bet matters would be put to rights without a moment’s dicking around.

The Magpie Offers A Deal To Peter Newey

Peter Newey

The ‘Pie notes that the increasingly sad little echo chamber that is the TRRA website, continues to sink into irrelevance as Conspiracy Central. He wouldn’t have been the least surprised if Pete Newey had this weekend posted the ‘truth’ that the moon landing never took place.

Maybe he did, The ‘Pie has rarely visits there, let’s face it, there is only so much time in this life for more productive pursuits to take the old bird’s priority – like wondering whether Harvey Spectre will end up in the cot with Donna Paulsen in the final season of Suits. Or why Vegemite is superior to Marmite.

However, The Magpie has been informed that poor old Pete Newey has had a bit of a foam flecked and highly inaccurate rant about this old bird.

So enough is enough, and The ‘Pie wants to sue for peace with Mr Newey. So he proposes the following:

Pete, if you stop telling lies about The Magpie, The Magpie will stop telling the truth about you.

Overseas Now And Seems The World Is On The Brink Of Boris

Seems Britain is about to get what amounts to Donald Trump Lite … the pommy Tories face a Hobson’s choice for leader and PM; on the one hand, disaster, on the other catastrophe and chaos We’ll know the awful truth within hours whether arch buffoon and public school prat Boris Johnson is the new British PM.

The mood in the Old Dart is neatly summed up the subtlety of this Ben Jennings effort in the Guardian … hint: check the bottom of the curtain on the left.

Across The Pond, One Topic Dominates This Week

The irony of the week, the decade, perhaps of the last century is that the leader of Germany has outright condemned the fascist and racist comments made by Donald Trump this week. And in 2019, it is America that has the concentration camps. The Trump trope of suggesting some female politicians should ‘go back where they came from’ and that they came from shitty crime ridden dictatorships has created howls of outrage from across the spectrum and acropss the world. The bitter joke is that Trump is right: one woman came as a youngster from The Sudan … and the other three come from one of the most shitty countries on earth at the moment … they were born in America. Is this pivotal issue that leads to the end of the Trump hegemony? Don’t count on it.

Math Question Of The Week.

The ‘Pie can be a cruel bugger at times … he sent the following to the Astonisher journos a few days ago, and they’re still trying to get the solution.

And finally …

While Townsville awaits the presence of Rocket Man Reg Dwight, up in Thailand, they have rocket men who put on an even more sparkling display than Elton. Don’t try this in your backyard.

……………….

Another week gone, hope you had a bit of fun with all this. And being that time of year when annual bills fall due, any appreciation you can offer in the way of a donation will be of great assistance, the donate button is below.

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The Magpie's Nest is now more than five years old, and remains an independent alternative voice for Townsville. The weekly warble is a labour of love and takes a lot of time to put together. So if you like your weekly load of old cobblers, you can help keep it aloft with a donation, or even a regular voluntary subscription. Paypal is at the ready, it's as easy as ... well, easy as pie. Limited advertising space is also available.

Pie , can i nominate Jackie Trad with expletives coming out of her mouth for an underwater sculpture . It hasnt been a great week for the Treasurer having failed to declare a house which is likely to benefit from the Cross River tunnel Jackie is in charge of . Who would have thought the integrity commissioner would see that as a conflict of interest and Jackie stated she is selling the house for the same price she bought it . Jackie, I know that you have a few issues with numbers but won’t you lose $ selling it at the same price due to legals x2 and stamp duty ?.

I think Trad and the Mullet must have gone to the same school and the same maths teacher, both seem to have trouble with them pesky numbers, all them details and stuff. Must have been at that same school that they both attended the “ how to be a foul mouthed feral” class, at which they both must have achieved an A+.

The school must be where they find journos for the Bulletin …. but re the delightful language, must be the CFMMEU taint … Quote of a unionist foot soldier at a mine blockade last year: ‘I’m gunna rape your f….ing wife and rape your f…ing kids, you mongrel c…’.

… and clearly she is selling it to someone she knows because she hasn’t factored in the 3%+ Real Estate Agent’s commission. I hope the “Integrity Commission” is watching to ensure there was a truly disinterested Third Party buyer. You lose about $40k on fees, duties, marketing and commissions every time you buy and sell the average investment property.

In this matter, you cannot improve on George Orwell’s Animal Farm – his was an allegory for Soviet communism, but it fits precisely with all Queensland politics.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” “Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.”

The only difference between math and maths is where they’re used. Like we said earlier, speakers of American and Canadian English use math, while speakers of Australian and British English use maths. There’s no real explanation as to why math became preferred in some places while maths was elsewhere.
Math vs. Maths – Everything After Z by Dictionary.com

The last one is your (accurate) suggestion of American pronunciation not spelling, but although the Yanks say ‘rout’, they spell it the same as we do, with an ‘e’. Among the mnemonics The ‘Pie learnt in school from a (for then) liberal minded teacher was the sentence, never to be reversed’ The army took a different route and routed the enemy’. The ‘Pie has always loved this stuff.

So while we’re shooting the breeze on such matters, does anyone have a favourite mnemonic? Like stationary and stationery are distinguished by ‘e’ for envelopes. And the most recent one came on the last state election night when one commentator joked that spelling the premier’s name would be a challenge, to which a colleague replied it’s easy ‘P-A-L-A-Syney-Zoo-Canberra-Zoo-United-Kingdom’. The ‘Pie is forever grateful but still falls back on Anna Alphabet from time to time.

Pie I have a name for the underwater sculptures, “Bottom of the Harbour” (Reminiscent of when companies were stripped of assests and nobody got anything). Kind of fitting really, just the sign would do, at least it would be descriptive.

Of course, questions remain as to whether all contingencies have been canvassed in this venture – which The ‘Pie genuinely supports, it’s a clever idea. But unlike the other you beaut locations in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, there are no nasties like stingers and the long trailing Portuguese Men’O’War. Now if you want to go to the John Brewer reef installation (which sounds terrific), you will need to pay Mr Victory for passage on one of his ferries, and you will be required (yes, required for insurance reasons) – to buy/hire a stinger suit. But what if, in the summer months, someone sitting in the Strand beach or at Maggie’s Geoffrey Bay decides to swim out and snorkel the MOUA, not realising protection is needed? Genuine question to which there may well be a logical answer. Happy to hear it (and please, don’t anyone start frothing with Bulletin-like alarmist crap about sharks and crocodiles – not that Jenna would be allowed to mention such a downer by her masters in the power elite.)

Ok then, perhaps the “M” in MOUA could stand for Memorial to those victims.
On safer ground(?) the sculptures could be positioned at various levels in the dam near the gates as markers for water levels, or at the tail end of the dam with a tribe of aborigines walking into or out of the water, or a drover and a herd of cattle. No scuba required, no crocs or jellyfish, just viewing platforms and binoculars and a point of difference from Cairns and Whitsundays.

This Underwater Art Exhibition is a great idea in theory but not a true whole of community exhibition but will only be able to be viewed by a select few; those who can afford any fees to be able to get to and from the art, those who can swim/dive underwater and have the medical/ capacity to do so and people under a certain age certainly will miss out.

Ummmm … so what? And what is your point? The whole thing is designed to bring tourism dollars, with visitors coming for the specific purpose, and using hotels restaurants and shops on shore as well the professional activities around the actual project. Can’t quite understand what you’re saying … except that your comment is self evident, because in all pursuits, not everyone can do everything, people miss out on a variety of things for a variety of reasons all the time, that’s life … and if it was designed mainly for locals, we’d soon run out of punters who’ve been there, done that.

Cant wait for the sculptures at John Brewer the trout and lippers will be on it in no time just have to get past those pesky divers. With the amount of sharks out the reef it shouldnt be a problem.
Oh and the sculptures on the strand will be a mecca for barra
BRING IT ON

We could blow a lazy million on scuba diver racing on the strand, it would be a fantastic opportunity for a private entity to come on board and support this venture. The council obviously still has these gremlins within their ranks that cheer on money literally being dumped into the ocean.

A better idea could be selling off the TEL building and killing off two birds with one stone by turning it into a mental rehab unit. dumping tyres into the ocean off Townsville would get more tourist dollar, the adverts I see in the national media are ” Townsville – what lies beneath ?”

Thanks for the thumbs up. July 20th 2019 – memorable for Townsville finally receiving funding for long term water security infrastructure. I add the infrastructure bit because operation of the pipeline from Clare is dependant on a few local government variables.
What is the council’s definition for water security? How will this inform future policy for setting the pumping trigger, water restrictions allocation and times for each level (and abiding by them?) will the new treatment plant be built to be able to process the increased pumped supply? It’s fine to have a $420 million Burdekin pipeline Porsche in the water security garage. It’s a little odd to take the 2001 mud splattered ute out for the regular Sunday drive.

On behalf of WFTAG I did email key civic leaders, Brad, the editor, yourself and representative groups to thank them for the combined lobbying that saw this goal achieved. It truly has been a community grass roots strategy. Many thanks to George Christensen who worked with WFTAG from the outset and respected our group’s expertise.

Here’s the 20.7.2019 email :

To everyone

Congratulations all. What a special day for Townsville. Though we’ve approached the challenge of lobbying for long-term water security differently, ultimately, the multipronged strategy has succeeded. Thank you to everyone who has sincerely supported our years of volunteer community research and persistent activist voice. Activism is not a comfortable state but the results can occasionally outweigh the discomfort.

Special thanks to Allan Lane for your incredible technical expertise. We all know the critical part you have played in this water fight. Without your input, I for one do not believe the outcome would have been the same. I’m also so grateful for the support from our hardworking WFTAG admin team and techs. It’s been a roller coaster and thousands of hours of work on the fb site, pollie meetings, research, report writing, publicity, collaboration and commitment.
Brad ….. what can I say

Hello Linda
How much will rates and charges increase per annum per property to cover depreciation, maintenance and operating costs on the new half billion dollar pipeline.

What is the benefit gained by residents from the new infrastructure- is it mainly the reduction in the periods and severity of water restrictions on watering gardens in Townsville?

Would you agree that many residents will not gain those benefits- for example those living in units, those who have already invested in their own bores, those who have climate responsive gardens, and those who are just not interested in gardening? Could you estimate what percentage of residents will gain such a benefit.

Does WFTAG think that those not gaining benefits should cross subsidise those that do? If such a cross subsidisation did not occur, (ie a user pays approach was introduced)- how much per annum will the rates and charges increase for those that do use a lot of water and will benefit from the relaxing of water restrictions enabled by the new pipeline.

“Special Day” resonates here as we mark a day when expert engineering and economics are overturned and chucked out the door on the “expert” advice of a glorified truck driver, an art teacher and their chums, all simply for political expedience and a vote buying attempt.

At the end of this appalling programme, we will have spent north of $400m for a pipeline designed only for emergency operation when Townsville is in the grip of drought when we could have started on a truly transformational water solution which would secure the region’s water future indefinitely (and without the crazy ongoing pumping costs of this pig).

Magpie mate, unfortunately my employment status and employer makes engaging in public discourse (or any form of intercourse) less than optimal for my continued ability to pay my bills; so I have demurred there.

TMCE, I don’t get it. Do you mean that having dismissed the Jacobs review the federal government went and invested in Stage 2 regardless? Who is the truck driver and arts teacher in this scenario? And what was your alternative to the “pig”?

It’s actually pretty tragic. Imagine how pathetic Adele Young must be to still have her LinkedIn profile as CEO of Townsville City Council, still trying to be relevant. Still claiming credit for the pipeline and the other day I saw her claiming credit for the water saving project. Council staff implemented the water saving program. Not Adele. Adele had some screwball idea that had to be canned because it was poorly thought through and was going to cost money. WAFTAG did the hard yards on the pipeline. Council dropped the ball there.

I was in a meeting once with Adele who proudly declared that her legacy to this city would be to sell the water business off to the State. Maybe she was high that day …. but she didn’t do that either.

Leaving aside the obvious fact that there IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ‘excellent pommy accent’, The ‘Pie admits he was initially in error – since corrected – in insulting French sensibilities, Jason is indeed a Pom with a Frenchified moniker.

I see Bristow Helicopters who own Air North in Australia have filed for chapter 11 in the USA a short while ago and things aren’t looking too good according to analysts with mounting debt crippling the business. It would be a shame for many towns across the North if this airline ceased operation, Townsville included. No breakdown on the profitability of its Australian business but let’s hope they try to sell the business here and can find a buyer, with a shrinking Qantas and Virgin footprint the last thing the North needs is less options.

Flew to Darwin late last year. Was staying the night at the Novotel and talking with the desk lady, she reckoned most of the cancellations she saw for rooms were from Air North flights. I had done the Qantaslink/Jestar run through Cairns so count myself lucky. Personally I think they have overextended with anything south of the Tropic of Capricorn. However I wonder if the US parent is stripping it dry a la Air NZ with Ansett…

I see that now Mayor Mullet has got the extra dosh for Pipeline Stage 2, she’s going to work out where to put it.
If that basic detail wasn’t worked out in advance how in hell did she come up with the level of funding needed?
Similar to testing the Cowboys stadium design for cyclonic winds AFTER construction started. And searching for water for the stadium months after work started.
There’s a pattern emerging here.

And of course, your ‘pattern’ includes the fact that in her haste to have an electorally bankable scheme underway, our reckless, desperate mayor ignored her minions advice and ordered a pipeline start BEFORE negotiations with all landholders were complete. There could well be a nice little financial time bomb sitting there for our future entertainment.

When it comes to any decisions made by Mayor Mullet and TCC, (or indeed government at any level really), I am a firm believer in the philosophy of Hanlon’s Razor — the idea that “one should never attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity.” Most of what she does is not done out of evil but simple incompetence.

Quite correct in theory, but when incompetence is demonstrated time and again, and must surely be realised by the perpetrator, then that becomes the ‘evil'(bit strong, that) in itself, risking the well being of others and the community for the sake of vanity and power. But that aside, there is more than ample anecdotal evidence that Jenny Hill is a vicious political player and not just in her own party … like most all politicians but particularly Labor, the slightest slight is never forgotten, a trait that more than one business person in this town accepts as true and are in genuine fear of. Bunnies and headlights don’t even start to tell the story.

Probably Dolan as a favour to a mate. They are friends zand live near each other (or did before Dolan and missus moved into apartment living closer to the CBD).
Yes, have noted that Les is exhibiting symptoms of delusions of adequacy of late … and delusional is the word if he was thinking of challenging Mayor Mullet. Christ, the Mullet’s misadministration is but a single kiloton bomb next to what would be a Messagebank mayoralty’s thermo-nuclear winter.

WT-bloody-F!!!
The ‘Pie was alarmed enough when it was decided that Jenny Hill would be running the second pipeline project, but christ, what sort of busted arse cowboy outfit is running this pipeline show? All this hullabaloo to get the dough (a good thing, certainly, but ….) THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE BLOODY PIPELINE IS TO GO. AND THEY WILL HAVE TO MAKE LAND ACQUISITIONS AT UNKNOWN COST.
Supplementary to The ‘Pie’s other comment on this, read this from today’s Astonisher and be afraid, very afraid.

QUOTE:’FIGURING out the best route for Stage 2 of the Haughton Pipeline project will be the next step for Townsville City Council after the Federal Government announced it would be stumping up the money for construction.
Mayor Jenny Hill said there were a number of possible routes for the pipeline from the Haughton River to Clare Weir. “We’ve got to assess what the best route is, but I will leave that one to the experts,” she said.
She said there was a possibility land acquisitions would be required depending on what route was chosen.’UNQUOTE

I’d say a compulsory purchase might be in the offing. It’s like building motorways and the like. If private land was untouchable and land owners unreasonable we’d have no roads anywhere and no one could actually move from their home. It’s why cooperative societies flourish. The council didn’t have many options you had an action group wanting pipelines but not worrying about costs and maintenance – it’s why reasoned that recycled water was the most cost effective way of building reliability in water supply, its cheaper and in town.

If the council had done nothing regarding a pipeline they would have been blamed, now they are trying to do something they are being blamed – it’s a catch 22. At least they didn’t just go ahead and build the thing without getting gov guarantees, Townsville first was saying they were just going to take a 250 million dollar loan from the QTC – imagine how much water would cost then.

It’s why my initial suspicion about the townsville first /opposition / whatever always rings true – the true plan liberal local council devolves to privatization of Townsville water. They get into power- introduce huge taxes on water, take unsustainable loans then sell off water to solve all their problems. Then you have this curious push for special water meters that once in place will be great for a private entity to tax Townsville into oblivion.

Guy, you might find the problem with compulsory acquisition is the length of time it can take from start to finish – with first commercial negotiation, then the Land Court, then an automatic appeal. People still eventually lose their land, but they can realistically hold a project up for years.

Fortunately people like Magpie’s old mates at Enema Legal take it coming and going so it is a lovely earner for the lawyers.

The ‘Pie will choose to ignore your salacious use of the term ‘mate’, but your point is an interesting one historically. The ‘Pie is told that in the late80s, Barry Taylor was the bare bones of arse professionally, when along came a rail project out west which Bazza saw as a gold mine. He ended up representing several landowners in acquisition matters, charging like the proverbial wounded bull, and thus he acquired wealth and the hubris that comes with it.

TM(C)E,
I might be barking up the wrong tree here, the legal eagles here might assist, however all Land Title Deeds have an encumbrance over them by the Crown. In other words, it’s never really your land (I can hear the gasps now) I’m assuming/believe that anytime the Crown wants to flex it’s muscles, it can ‘reclaim’ your land for the greater good. Does this power extend to State and Local Governments ? Water supply to a town/city/region in need, would be under the greater good. The only sticking point I see is how the land value is formulated and both side could provide certified valuations. Courts wouldn’t muck around too long if the valid valuation documents were readily made available. I was always of the view that once the Government wanted your land it was game over bar the value of same discussion.

Jatz – absolutely correct. Hence the government (of all levels within their areas of jurisdiction and with just cause) is able to compulsorily acquire land.

The sticking point is about the level of “fair compensation”. Certainly the QG process goes something like this (there are variations between departments):
– QG says “we want it, will you sell?”
– owner says “nup”
– QG values property (land and improvements) and makes an offer
– owner says “nup”
– QG pays for owner to get another valuation and MAY offer up to that level
– owner says “nup”
– QG and owner get joint valuation which becomes final commercial offer
– owner says “nup”
– QG advises intent to compulsorily acquire
– owner says “nup, see you in court” because they have lawyered up and now know that they have huge power because someone in Brisbane has announced the project completion date so every day they delay puts the project under political pressure
– QG send notice of acquisition and compensation then wait
– owner says “nup”
– QG moves to acquire
– Owner seeks leave for the matter to be heard in the Land Court and legal proceedings start (often a 12-18 month delay)
– QG eventually pays outrageous amount for property (this may occur earlier in the process, depending on how desperate the need for the land is)
– – often the project then is delayed or goes away and the original owner gets the payout and leases the land back for a peppercorn.

Wonder if Jacki Tradjik has purchased any land out in the Haughton/Clare area recently. Same goes for the Mullet.
The route for the pipeline, when they eventually get around to working it out, will require close scrutiny.

Mr ‘Pie, has anybody passed on the latest pro photos of Les MessageBank that are on FB? Definitely in early election mode. Like a pregnant women preparing for the birth of a baby. The problem is that this baby will be a very ugly mongrel. They are on SRC FB (Scotty Radfird Chisholm)

Sneaky, snakey, snarky and BRILLIANT … or just more unintentional humour from the Daily Astonisher?
The ‘Pie was ready to assign this story to the Ho Hum Dept of:, thinking, ‘Oh, it’s that time of year again’.

But just in case, he read the story in the unlikely event there was something new. There wasn’t, but there were a couple of noteworthy guffaws. TEL’s new director of Tourism and Events, Lisa Woolfe (she’s taken over from Bridget Woods, who’s buggered off overseas) made the thigh-slapping gush:
‘TEL remains in conversations with Townsville Airport executives to secure international flights to places like Singapore and New Zealand.’

Well, no travel expenses involved there, and no sweat for triathlete Mrs Woolfe, she would just need to pop down the hallway to the boardroom to be in conversation with the head Townsville Airport exec Kevin ‘Rhymes With’ Gill, who also just happens to be the deeply conflicted chairman of TEL.
She then prattled on with a bit more meaningless guff peppered with words like ‘scope’ and ‘connectivity’, while displaying a deep lack of understanding of how tourists think.

But the best came last, when reporter Madura ‘Teabag’ McCormack ended this predictable mantra by dryly observing:
‘Ms Woolfe has been with Townsville Enterprise for eight years’.
Which is about the same time that the paper has been recirculating this biannual space filler. If this was an intentional bit of subtle humorous commentary having a dig at TEL’s lack of achievement, then there is hope yet.

Numbskull Gill must be very confused about this whole scenario, as the chairman of TEL he would like to blame the hopeless dickheads at Townsville airport for not providing enough flight options to get travellers to Townsville, as the COO of Townsville airport he would like to blame the hopeless dickheads at TEL for not securing enough attractions to lure tourists here, so nothing but hopeless dickheads everywhere he looks, including the mirror.

Someone noted on the ‘Pie’s FB page that the lack of international flights was an ‘embarrassment’. To which The ‘Pie has replied:

Townsville Magpie Jennifer Lee Sinclair
That’s the least of our embarrassments, which may be greater if we had international flights while we keep getting this back to front. What do we have to offer international visitors on a year-round basis? The stadium would attract zero visitors from overseas, and while an interesting adjunct, the underwater museum project will never be a clincher in holiday decision making by overseas planners. Every time we see a cruise ship hove into view, we cringe in embarrassment at the thought of impressions that will be carried away from a decrepit CBD. (Thank God for Billabong Sanctuary, Bob Fleming deserves a medal.) And to illustrate what shows up the total lack of vision and priorities of the political and powerful business lobby, it is a fact that the stadium and the underwater museum’s value to this town would be TOTALLY eclipsed by a state-of-the-art convention centre that could double as an entertainment centre. But that now seems even further away, all the public money for beads and blankets for the natives has been well and truly spent. It’s going to take some real guts to get us out of this.

Qantas is promoting “international” flights from Townsville for under $400. You fly from Townsville to Cairns and then on to Port Moresby, where you will need a squad of security guards to protect you from the natives.
What a coup for the Dill and TEL.

Some years back I had to spend a week in PM. Your assessment of the place is correct. Why the hell would anyone with a modicum of concern for their personal welfare and safety voluntarily go to Port Moresby.

Hmm?

TEL brain snap; “TOWNSVILLE, the international gateway to PNG.

Yep, a bit like Gundabloodywindy boasting that it is the International gateway to Boggabilla.

Another department has been told that there budget is now half that of last year. 8mil down from 16mil. Can’t say which one because of the person who told me. But it’s a major service. Listening to the ads on radio about TCC being financially well off is just bullshit. If you cut every service and don’t do anything, then you always save money.

With Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasle convicted and investigations into Fraser Coast, Moreton, Gold Coast, Palm Island Councils as well as Mayors like the Mullet what will it take the Queensland Government to realise there are Corporate Governance issues possibly costing ratepayers billions ?. Do they need a new wing at the prison called “ Mayors Wing “.

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